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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29347008">Heading Home</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/IrishPlagueDoctor/pseuds/IrishPlagueDoctor'>IrishPlagueDoctor</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Corrupted!PlagueKnight [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Shovel Knight</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>AU, Alternate Universe, Corrupted!PlagueKnight, F/M, Fluff, With a little Angst thrown in</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 13:27:14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,125</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29347008</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/IrishPlagueDoctor/pseuds/IrishPlagueDoctor</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Taking place right after "Power of Antimony", Plague Knight and Mona arrive back to the Explodatorium for some much needed rest. Unfortunately, his minions tend to make even the simplest of tasks that much more difficult for the both of them.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Mona &amp; Plague Knight, Mona/Plague Knight</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Corrupted!PlagueKnight [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2155662</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Heading Home</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>the sequel no one asked for!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Mona led the nervous plague knight up the steps to the Explodatorium, her hand clasping his as they both reached the final step. She took a step and placed her free hand on the door.</p><p>She turned to look back at the large knight. “You ready?”</p><p>He gave her a shaky smile. <strong>“<em>Honestly? No. Hee.”</em></strong></p><p>Mona squeezed his hand and gave him a comforting smile. “I know, but you can do this.”</p><p>She pushed the door open and vanished inside, bringing along the bigger knight that had to push the door open a little more so he could fit through. After shutting the door, the only light that lit the room were beakers full of neon colors of unknown chemicals and concoctions. So far no one noticed the female alchemist and her (now-larger) partner arrive, but they didn’t wait for their attention as they continued down the familiar corridor.</p><p>Mona continued to lead Plague Knight; hands still clasped tight as she led him through his own Explodatorium. Mona was unfazed by the stroll, but Plague Knight couldn’t help but feel anxious, his eyes darting everywhere as he watched some of his minions do their work without so much as glancing his way. If someone was put off by his sudden change then no one showed it, yet.</p><p>He was so occupied that he didn’t realize Mona stopped until he almost bumped into her.</p><p>Mona’s browed furrowed in thought. “Hm, which way was it again Plaguey?”</p><p><strong><em>“W-what?”</em> </strong>He asked.</p><p>She gestured to the crossroads in front of her. “I don’t usually come here so I haven’t memorized the way to your room yet.”</p><p>
  <strong>
    <em>“O-oh, right. It’s uh-“</em>
  </strong>
</p><p>Plague knight was interrupted when a small round object flew into his peripheral vision. It wasn’t until it came closer that he realized it was one of the worker’s bombs; and the path it took was leading straight to his unsuspecting Mona! It was small, but it was coming fast!</p><p>
  <strong>“<em>Mona look out!”</em> </strong>
</p><p>She couldn’t even harbor a reaction when Plague Knight grabbed her from behind and enclosed his wings around her. The bomb collided and hit his wing with a loud <em>boom</em>, leaving behind a small scorch mark; luckily the bomb was more for show than it was capable of exploding, but even a small bomb can do a lot of damage to someone if they were hit on the head with it.</p><p>He stalled for a moment, making sure there weren’t any other stray bombs, before unfurling his wings around Mona.</p><p>“Plague are you alright?!” Mona asked immediately.</p><p>
  <strong><em>“I’m fine, are </em>you <em>alright?” </em></strong>
</p><p>Mona sighed in relief when the large alchemist seemed unfazed. “I’m fine.”</p><p>Some of the brightly pink-color beaks of a few workers poked out from above. “S-sorry! Is everyone alright?”</p><p>Falling back into old habits, Plague Knight immediately responded, <strong><em>“You </em>IDIOTS<em>! You almost hit Mona! I’d sooner </em>experiment <em>on the lot of you before…I accept…your-“</em></strong></p><p>Plague Knight realized his blunder as he could feel all eyes look his way. Workers stopped what they were doing the minute they heard such a deep, gravelly voice, their heads poking out of everywhere as they searched for the source of the strangely familiar voice. Some have even flew down to get a better look at the boss-look-alike, surrounding the pair, muttering about to themselves.</p><p><strong><em>“-…apology.” </em></strong>He finished quietly as he shrunk into himself, using his wings to cover most of his face.</p><p>“Boss?” One courageously asked.</p><p>The others joined in, a chorus of “Boss?” and “What happened to you?” encircled them as more flocked and joined in.</p><p>Plague Knight huddled close to Mona. <strong><em>“M-mona?”</em></strong></p><p>“On it.” She turned to face the growing audience. “Hey! Show’s over! Get back to work!”</p><p>The minion’s looked at each other, muttering something again before looking back to her again. Mona pulled out her spellbook and nonchalantly opened it before licking her thumb to flick through the pages. “Alright, I guess it’s time for target practice…”</p><p>That got their attention. They all rushed off in a heap, leaving the two alchemists alone in the crossroads.</p><p>Plague knight unfurled his wings and straightened himself in relief. <strong><em>“T-thanks Mona.”</em></strong></p><p>She turned to him as she placed her spellbook back into her robe. She extended her hand to him. “Nothing we couldn’t handle, right?”</p><p>Plague Knight gave her a sheepish smile before accepting her hand.</p><p>As they continued towards Plague Knight’s room, the two were still offered questionable side glances and suspicious looks, though he was faring through it much better than before.</p><p>By the time they finally reached Plague Knight’s room (or whatever was left of it), the green knight was ready to collapse onto the bed. The sudden commotion from before sapped whatever energy he had left. He was just glad a certain bipedal horse wasn’t there, the thought made him shudder.</p><p>There was no pause when Plague Knight dramatically jumped and landed on his oversized, bouncy bed. The bed squeaked in protest under the new weight but remained standing, thankfully. Plague Knight let out a sigh in relief as he curled into himself, absorbing the comfortable softness of the bed cushions and pillows.</p><p>He peeked one eye open in time to see Mona lift and place the broken door back in its place…sort of. Without the hinges, it looked ready to fall again so she had no choice but to prop half of it against the wall, facing Plague Knight so he could at least have a little privacy. The door was actually pretty light so Mona didn’t need any help to haul it into place.</p><p>When that was done, she wiped off the dust and wood splinters off her hands and sighed. “Well, we’re here.” She turned around and eyed the room; it was a disaster, with a bunch of wood, rocks, and other debris on the floor—not to mention the large hole in the wall where the balcony used to be. She doesn’t know <em>how </em>that happened, the hole was already there when she woke up, but she didn’t need to think too hard on the most probable reasons. “This place is a disaster.”</p><p>Plague Knight yawned, sitting up in bed. <strong><em>“Wouldn’t be the first time, hee hee.”</em></strong> He yawned again, but this time instead of sucking in air, a roar of blueish-green flames soared out of his maw. Startled, Plague Knight immediately closed his beak and stumbled backwards only to fall of fthe edge of the bed.</p><p>Mona let out an alarmed yell as the fire collided with the stone wall and extinguish itself upon impact. Mona froze for a moment, glaring at the scorch mark on the wall as the gears turned in her head as she tried to process what had just happened.</p><p>Plague Knight’s coughing brought her out of her stupor. She watched him cough up billows of smoke, his eyes watery and as big as Mona’s. <strong><em>“W-what. WHAT?!”</em></strong></p><p>He looked to Mona for answers but she only shook her head, giving him a “I have no idea what the heck just happened” look.</p><p>The two remained frozen as they continued to register what happened until Mona finally broke the silence.</p><p>“Is…is that all?” She asked.</p><p>
  <strong>
    <em>“A-All what?”</em>
  </strong>
</p><p>“All…all…” She waved her hands at him dramatically. “All <em>that</em>!” He gave her a quizzical look, tilting his head to the side in confusion (in which she had to admit was super adorable but now wasn’t the time to get caught up in cutesy stuff). “What <em>else </em>can you do that I should know about?!”</p><p>He shrugged his shoulders melodramatically. <strong><em>“I don’t know! I didn’t know I could do t-that!”</em></strong></p><p>“Well, you should!”</p><p><strong><em>“Well I </em>don’t<em>!” </em></strong>He huffed.</p><p>Mona closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Getting worked up wasn’t going to get them anywhere, she knew that from experience. She rubbed her temple in thought before taking another deep breath to calm her nerves.</p><p>“Okay.” She exhaled. “We just need to…figure this out before there are any…<em>other</em> surprises decide to make their acquaintance unexpectedly.”</p><p>Mirroring her behavior, Plague Knight took a deep breath to calm down as well. <strong><em>“Y-yeah, t-that’s probably a good idea. Let’s do that.”</em></strong></p><p>“First,” She looked around the room until she found what she needed, a small piece of paper and an inkwell on a desk. She pulled up a stool that was knocked down by his bed and dragged back to the desk. “…let’s go ahead and track what we already know you can do so far.”</p><p><strong><em>“Yeah, sounds good.</em></strong>” He followed and watched her scribble the heading and a couple of note points. He had to fight the urge not to lay his head on Mona’s as she continued to scribble.</p><p>“Alright, so…” She started writing on the first point. “…you can fly.”</p><p><strong><em>“Obviously.” </em></strong>He said as he flexed his wings, starting to feel more comfortable being capable of controlling their overall movement.</p><p>She moved onto the second. “Increased BMI.”</p><p>
  <strong><em>“</em>Dramatically<em> increased BMI.”</em></strong>
</p><p>She gazed upward and raised her brow at the knight. “Dramatically?”</p><p><strong><em>“W-Well yeah!” </em></strong>He stammered as his face turned flush. <strong><em>“I used to be about half your size! And now…” </em></strong>He leaned over so it looked like he towered over her, his face at least a good foot and a half from Mona’s.</p><p>Mona huffed as Plague Knight’s beak curled upward. Mona turned her head back to the paper as she scribbled on the third point. “Well, don’t go burning me with your new fire breath now…”</p><p>Plague Knight shrunk back indignantly, his grin replaced with a scowl. <strong><em>“Hmph! Sounds like someone’s jealous.”</em></strong></p><p>Mona snorted from the retort and she grinned, though her gaze was still on the paper. “No, I just don’t want to…you know…<em>die</em>.”</p><p><strong><em>“I would </em>never <em>let that happen.” </em></strong>He added quietly, his wings starting to sag.</p><p>Upon noticing the tone in Plague Knight’s voice, Mona whirled around and gave the tired knight a hug. “I know. I was just joking.” She said in a matching tone.</p><p>Plague Knight returned the hug, allowing himself to (finally) rest his head on hers.</p><p>“But, just in case, don’t yawn in my direction, okay?” Mona added, squeezing him tighter.</p><p>Plague Knight snorted, Mona feeling herself sink deeper into his chest as it shook from his laughter. <strong><em>“I-I won’t.”</em></strong></p><p>Mona smiled. “Thanks.”</p><p>She didn’t want to let go of him, even though she should continue brainstorming what Plague Knight can or can’t do now, but her exhaustion from the day was catching up to her. Plague Knight could feel how Mona kept leaning on him, her grip loosening as slowly started to slide off the stool.</p><p>“Would it be okay if we finished this tomorrow?” She asked quietly.</p><p>
  <strong>
    <em>“Yeah, you getting tired?”</em>
  </strong>
</p><p>She rubbed her head on his chest as a “yes”. “Would it be okay if I slept with you tonight?”</p><p>Plague Knight’s flushed brightly at the sudden question. <em>Mona, sleep with HIM? Right NOW?! </em>This was too soon in a relationship, right?</p><p>As if she was reading his mind, Mona chuckled quietly. “Not like <em>that</em>. I just don’t want to go all the way back to my bed in the underground lab.”</p><p>Even after the explanation, the knight couldn’t get the perverted idea out of his head no matter how hard he tried to ignore it. <strong><em>“Y-yeah, y-you c-c-can sleep wi-with me.”</em></strong></p><p>Mona smiled, feeling bad for putting such a debauchery idea in his head. “Thanks.” She yawned.</p><p>She completely nestled into him, letting him pick her up off the stool completely. As he was about to turn around and carry her over to his bed, without thinking he let out a yawn. Just as he realized what he had done, another plume of fire escaped his maw and landed directly on the desk, disintegrating the paper and ink-feather on the spot.</p><p>Plague Knight froze, his eyes huge as he stared at the scorch mark that was not too far from where Mona was sitting.</p><p>Mona tried to move to look at what he did but he only hugged her tighter. “Plague-“</p><p><strong><em>“IT WAS NOTHING.” </em></strong>He interrupted as he quickly ran over to his bed and plopped his (suspicious) Mona and placed her under the covers, tucking her in so she couldn’t easily get out of bed.</p><p>“Plague did you just-“</p><p>
  <strong>
    <em>“No.”</em>
  </strong>
</p><p>“I know you did it again.”</p><p><strong><em>“Did what?” </em></strong>He feigned as carefully climbed over Mona to the vacant side of the bed.</p><p>“<em>You know what</em>.”</p><p>He gulped as he wrapped his wings around him, covering his face. <strong><em>“Goodnight.”</em></strong></p><p>Mona groaned as she forced herself to try and fall asleep again, though it was hard to do when she could still see the smoke rise from the desk out of the corner of her eye.</p>
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